Police Arrest Perpetrators Of Coldplay Concert Ticket Fraud

Three suspects in the Coldplay concert ticket sales fraud case who were arrested by the Malang City Police team (ANTARA/Vicki Febrianto)

Malang City Resort Police (Polresta), East Java, arrested three perpetrators of fraudulent British band concert ticket sales Coldplay who plan to appear in Indonesia in November 2023. Malang City Police Chief Kombes Budi Hermanto said the fraud was revealed after one of the victims with the initials RD (24), a resident of Tangerang Regency, Banten, reported to the National Police Criminal Investigation Agency (Bareskrim) on May 19, 2023. "After there was the report, then we connected it with the Tangerang Regency, Banten, reporting to the National Police Criminal Investigation Agency (Bareskrim) on May 19, 2023. "The Blimbing Sector Police (Polsek) and victims communicated and coordinated with investigators at the Criminal Investigation Unit of the Police," Budi said as quoted by ANTARA, Monday, May 29. Budi, who is often called Buher, explained that after conducting an investigation, the Blimbing Police arrested three perpetrators who were suspects in the Coldplay ticket fraud case. The three suspects, he continued, a woman with the initials PASNW (19), the mother of PASNW with the initials NW (47), and the lover of PASNW with the initials GYP (22). PASNW and NW residents of Blimbing District, Malang City, while GYP is Probolinggo Regency. "When the investigation was carried out, we finally arrested three people suspected of committing fraud." he said. On that occasion, Blimbing Police Chief Kompol Danang Yudanto explained that after receiving the report, the officers then tracked down the suspects. However, it was known that the suspects no longer lived in the Malang City area. The police then gave chase to the Probolinggo area and finally arrested three suspects. The three suspects were arrested by the Blimbing Malang City Police team on May 26, 2023. "After an investigation was carried out, we were finally able to find the location of this suspect and on Friday (26/5) we arrested him," said Danang. Danang explained that based on the examination of the three suspects there were 19 victims of fraudulent Coldplay ticket sales. PASNW is the mastermind behind the fraud case The sale of tickets for the British band. The modus operandi is carried out by PASNW, explained Danang, at first by buying Twitter social media accounts that already have many followers. This is done to install advertisements or offer concert tickets for foreign artists. Through the account named @membirv, the suspect caught the victim who wanted to buy a concert ticket, which was known to have many fans. Most of the victims will send messages via their Twitter account and then continue in a Whatsapp conversation. "When it was felt that the person concerned was interested and was serious and wanted to pay some of the money offered by the suspect, it was then continued to 'chat' Whatsapp. Then, there was a transfer of money, but there was no follow-up," he said.

Of the total 19 victims, the losses recorded ranged from Rp. 2.5 million to Rp. 9 million for each victim. Until now, officers are still collecting data related to the total amount of losses suffered by the victims. "We are still recapitulating the total losses because this is still developing, the proceeds of crime are used to buy jewelry and other goods. They have acted for more than one year, that's the result of a temporary investigation," he said. For his actions, the suspect PASNW was subject to Article 45 A Paragraph (1) of Law Number 19 of 2016 concerning Amendments to Law Number 11 of 2008 concerning Electronic Information and Electronic Transactions in conjunction with Article 28 Paragraph (1) Law Number 11 of 2008 and or Article 378 of the Criminal Code. Meanwhile, suspects NW and GYP were charged with Article 480 of the Criminal Code. The suspects face a maximum sentence of six years in prison with a maximum fine of Rp. 1 billion.